Red Dead Redemption 2

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 pairing delivers a playable Red Dead Redemption 2 experience, but the data reveals a clear performance hierarchy dependent on resolution and preset. At 1080p, the combination is strong, with average frame rates ranging from 47.8 FPS at Ultra to 107.7 FPS at Low. The 1440p results show a significant drop, with High settings producing 50.1 FPS, while 4K Ultra falls to a demanding 25 FPS average. The benchmark data indicates that this combo ranks 941st out of 1687 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the pack for this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the most fluid experience, with average frame rates of 71.9 FPS at High and 107.7 FPS at Low. Moving to 2560x1440 drops the High preset to 50.1 FPS, while 3840x2160 High manages only 36.9 FPS, indicating that 1080p is the most consistent choice for this pairing.

Q: How does the RTX 4060's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 23181, which is 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321) and 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (23338). It is 0.7% ahead of the Intel Arc B580 (23021) and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon 760M (22999).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 80 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 39.1 FPS. This represents a substantial performance cost for the higher visual fidelity, with the Low preset delivering more than double the average frame rate of Ultra.

Q: Does the i5-9400's multi-core performance place it above or below the 50th percentile of all CPUs?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has a percentile rank of 50, meaning it sits exactly at the median of all tested CPUs. Its average benchmark score is 2305, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i3-10305 and 0.4% higher than the Intel Xeon E-2134.

Q: What is the most demanding preset tested for this combo?

A: The 3840x2160 Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding an average frame rate of 25 FPS. This is the lowest recorded result in the measured data, contrasting sharply with the 107.7 FPS achieved at 1920x1080 Low.

Q: How does the GPU's memory bandwidth factor into its performance profile?

A: The RTX 4060 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration supports the card's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance and its 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates indicate that the optimal experience balances visual quality with smoothness. For 1920x1080, the High preset at 71.9 FPS is the best choice, offering a substantial improvement over the Medium preset's 84.3 FPS? No, the data shows High is lower than Medium, so Medium at 84.3 FPS is the superior option for higher frame rates. However, High provides a better visual experience at a still-respectable 71.9 FPS. The Low preset at 107.7 FPS is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays, but sacrifices significant visual fidelity.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 61.5 FPS, which is the most balanced option for this resolution. The High preset drops to 50.1 FPS, which is playable but less fluid, while the Low preset at 80 FPS offers the best performance for competitive or fast-paced play. The Ultra preset at 39.1 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience at this resolution.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that even the Low preset averages only 55.5 FPS. The Medium preset at 42.9 FPS and High at 36.9 FPS are below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra at 25 FPS is not playable for most users. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo is limited to Low settings for a decent frame rate, or requires a lower resolution for better quality.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1920x1080 with the Medium preset, yielding 84.3 FPS. This provides a smooth frame rate while maintaining a moderate level of graphical detail. For users prioritizing visual quality, the High preset at 71.9 FPS is still above 60 FPS and is a viable alternative.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration supports a dual-channel DDR4 memory interface with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s.

The CPU's benchmark scores show a multi-core Cinebench R23 score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125. In Cinebench R20, it scores 3346 multi-core and 472 single-core. These results place the processor at the 50th percentile when compared to all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, 0.2% faster) and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, 0.4% faster), showing that the i5-9400 is closely matched with these parts.

For Red Dead Redemption 2, the combination of 6 cores and 6 threads is sufficient for the game's demands, as the measured frame rates show no extreme bottlenecking at lower resolutions. The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 107.7 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at that setting. However, the performance scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (107.7 to 47.8 FPS) shows that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher presets, as the CPU's fixed performance does not change with settings.

The boost clock of 4.10 GHz provides adequate single-thread performance for game logic, but the lack of hyper-threading means the CPU relies on its 6 physical cores. The benchmark data shows the processor is a mid-range part, and its performance in this game aligns with its 50th percentile ranking.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 941st out of 1687 tested combos for Red Dead Redemption 2. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the ranking, indicating that while it performs adequately, many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher frame rates. The ranking reflects the balance between the mid-range CPU and the higher-end GPU, where the CPU's performance ceiling may limit the GPU's potential in certain scenarios.

The combo's ranking is consistent with the measured frame rates, which show strong performance at 1080p but struggle at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the 25 FPS average is well below what top-ranking combos would achieve. The data suggests that this pairing is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates. The percentile ranking of the GPU is 66, indicating that the RTX 4060 is a capable card, but the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the CPU's 50th percentile score.

Compared to other combos, this pairing sits at the 55.8th percentile of the ranking (941/1687). This means it outperforms a slight majority of tested combinations but lags behind the top performers. The performance gap is most evident at 4K, where the combo's frame rates are below the playable threshold for most settings. The data indicates that for users with 1440p or 4K displays, a more powerful CPU would be necessary to better utilize the RTX 4060.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, along with 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz. Its memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with an FP32 performance of 15.11 TFLOPS and a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s. The pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s. The card has a TDP of 115 W and requires a 300 W power supply. Its average benchmark score is 23181, placing it at the 66th percentile of all GPUs.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the RTX 4060's performance is clearly demonstrated by the measured frame rates. At 1080p, the GPU can push frame rates from 47.8 FPS at Ultra to 107.7 FPS at Low. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 55.6% drop in frame rate, indicating the GPU is sensitive to the game's graphical settings. At 1440p, the frame rates range from 39.1 FPS at Ultra to 80 FPS at Low, showing a similar pattern.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s is a key factor in its performance. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming at most settings, but the 4K Ultra preset at 25 FPS suggests that the memory bandwidth and capacity are strained at high resolutions. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321, 0.6% faster) and the Intel Arc B580 (23021, 0.7% slower), showing that the RTX 4060 sits in a competitive performance tier.

The data shows that the GPU is the dominant component in this pairing, as the frame rate differences between settings are consistent with GPU-bound scenarios. The RTX 4060's 15.11 TFLOPS of compute power and 236.2 GTexel/s texture rate are sufficient to drive the game at 1080p with high settings, but the 4K results indicate that the GPU is not powerful enough for that resolution.